


Some People Fall in Love For Life

by SheepWrites



Category: RWBY
Genre: Depressing, F/M, Romance, Sad, Suicide, arkos
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-02
Updated: 2020-10-02
Packaged: 2021-03-07 15:50:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,673
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26780155
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SheepWrites/pseuds/SheepWrites
Summary: In the months after the fall of Beacon, a heartbroken and grief-stricken Jaune Arc makes a last attempt to reach his fallen lover.
Relationships: Jaune Arc/Pyrrha Nikos, Lie Ren/Nora Valkyrie
Comments: 3
Kudos: 8





	Some People Fall in Love For Life

Some People Fall in Love For Life

Another day, another mile. Miles, actually. Jaune Arc sat up from his bedroll, yawning under heavy eyelids. He cracked his neck, aching bones popping back into place as he looked around. The sun had barely risen over the horizon, soft beams filtering through the trees around his camp. His teammates, Ren and Nora, were still asleep on the ground next to him, sleeping safe and sound. Nora’s apricot hair tumbled out behind her while she sighed in her sleep, eyes closed, a faint smile on her face. Jaune wondered what she was dreaming about. Ren, probably. Lie hadn’t remembered to separate himself from his hammer-wielding sweethearts pillow the following night as he usually did, the facade that they weren’t, as he put it, “a thing,” now broken on the ground as he slept soundly next to her, one hand laid over her chest. He too let a soft smile at his lips while he slept. Jeane sighed. He was happy for them, he really was. What they had was special. A longtime bond, closer than anyone else he knew. 

Still, he couldn’t shake the quiet bitterness he felt as he watched them sleep together. It wasn’t jealousy, no, just a sour kind of sadness. Loss. He shook his head to try to clear it. No use, the feeling wouldn’t leave. He knew it wouldn’t, not for a long time, that was certain.  
Slowly, Jaune picked himself up, trying to be quiet so as not to disturb the others in the little lean-to on the forest path. Standing, he could see a red cloak and the accompanying shock of dark hair on the other side of their shelter. Ruby Rose was asleep as well, happily dreaming, little snores between her breaths. The weeks they’d spent on the trail, he’d grown accustomed to her constant presence, almost like she was a new member of his team.  
But she wasn’t. Try as she might, with all her speed and strength, confidence and power, scarlet flashing as she fought, even as she dashed past her foes with the same grace, Ruby Rose wasn’t his red.  
She never would be.  


Jaune had tried to let her in, to give her the empty space in his team both physically and in spirit, but he couldn’t. Ren and Nora had made her feel at home, joking along and smiling with her. The days on the trail were far from unpleasant for them, and they’d welcomed her with open arms. She seemed perfectly content, sleeping as she was in his shelter, safe and warm next to friends. But he wouldn’t let himself give in to her. Ruby was charming, and strong, absolutely deserving of the space in his heart, in his team, but he wouldn’t let her fill it. He couldn’t. Not when it had been emptied too fast, the crimson poppy barely blooming in his soul cut off at the stem. He wouldn’t let the rose grow there.  


Jaune sighed. He had things to do. Still quiet, he strapped on his armor and hung his sword at his hip. Tucked his scroll into his pocket, and began to make his way off the trail. After a few minutes he found what he was looking for- A little clearing between the trees, patchy moss over the packed earthen floor. A fallen tree marked it’s border, covered in the tiny beginnings of new life. The air was fresh, clear in the morning glow. Jaune opened his shield, drew his sword, and with a deep breath to steady himself, set his scroll on the log.  
“Alright, Jaune.”  


The recording began. His breath shuddered as he took his stance.  


“Just like we practiced. Follow these instructions. Shield up-”  


He followed, raising his shield in front of him.  


“Keep your grip tight-”  


A gloved hand tightened on the hilt of a heavy blade.  


“Don’t forget to keep your front foot forward.”  


He checked himself, but found he was already in perfect form. Thousands of times in this routine had given him near perfection in his method. Still, he slid his foot forward a little more, further than it should have been.  


“Ready?”  


He bit his lip to keep it from trembling, steadied himself once more, tense.  


“Go.”  


In an instant Jaune moved, suddenly a whirl of blade and shield. He cried out, in effort and in anguish, his gold and silver a blur as he pivoted, slashed, ducked.  


“Again.”  


Another shout left him as his blade flashed, fighting for his breath against the exertion. Birds flew from their perches, the weight of his strikes blowing back the plants around him.  


“And again.”  


His eyes were blurry, sweat and tears trickling down his face. His voice broke on his last attack as did his form, and he fell to his knees, gasps for breath quickly giving way to sobbing as the voice from his scroll continued.  
“Now, assuming you haven’t been cheating, we can take a break.”  
These words were lost on the boy, knelt as he was in utter heartbreak. The burning of his muscles was nothing against the pain in his chest, his armor’s weight pale in comparison to the heavy, heavy burden that lay on his mind.  


“I know this can be frustrating, and it can feel like so much effort to progress such a small amount. But I want you to know that I’m proud of you. I’ve never met someone so determined to better themselves. You’ve grown so much since we started training. And I know this is just the beginning-”  
Her voice cut through his mind like his sword through the air. He looked up at the video playing on his scroll, at the kind green eyes under red hair, her beautiful face smiling at him with genuine love. Blonde hair stuck to his face and over his eyes, weighed by sweat and tears, as he watched her, still sobbing but forcing his eyes open. He had to see her. Had to hear that voice, the smile forming her words into the most important things in his world.  
“Jaune, I…”  
The hesitation as the girl in the video looked away for a moment, unsure of herself, wrenched his feelings away from the warmth of her words. He shook, his emotions battering against his consciousness. Purest sadness as her words continued.  
“I want you to know that I’m just happy to be a part of your life.”  
Sick, twisted irony crashed over him, forcing more sobs, his shirt now thoroughly soaked.  
“I’ll always be here for you, Jaune-”  


No, he couldn’t do it. He couldn’t stand to see the image of her fade to grey as it ended, he couldn’t let her go like that. Couldn’t let her smile and tell him it was going to be alright, and then disappear. Not again. He cried out, his shield flying from his hands in an all-too-familiar form. As the girl in the recording reached for the screen, silver and gold flashed through the air and with a plaintive whine, the image went dark.  
His scroll fell from the log, broken cleanly in two.  
The last connection to his love was gone from the world. 

Pyrrha Nikos was truly dead.

Jaune knelt there, arm outstretched and still crying as the magnitude of what he’d just done hit him harder than any demon, any weapon ever could. He howled in despair, tears still streaming over his face, and he ran. Barely snatching up his shield as he sprinted back to the others, now just waking at the noise. He was a terrible liar, and none of them believed him when he said he’d been training and scared by a bear.  
Not that he cared.  


The rest of the day was an awkward, aching trek through the forest, and where there was usually Ren’s calm smile coupled with Ruby and Nora’s antics, there was melancholy silence. The quiet left Jaune too much time to think, images of her flashing through his head. Their first meeting, a hurried conversation amidst the chaos of their beginning at Beacon, the awe of her power as she fought in the forest. Her reassurance after he was chosen to be their team’s leader. Her quiet, strong voice in the classroom, always knowledgeable, always kind. A red dress under redder hair as they danced, pressed against each other, happy in the warmth. Her beautiful smile. Their talk on the rooftop, sweet words giving him a reason to continue on when all felt lost.  


And as they made camp while the sky darkened, his thoughts followed suit. Her despair at the Vytal Festival as Penny Polendina lay lifeless, torn limb from limb. Tears at what she’d done and he hadn’t done enough to comfort her. Her loneliness at Beacon that he’d failed to rescue her from soon enough. Her reassuring smile as she left to fight for everyone, the invincible girl, ever the hero.  


Scarlet sunset fell as he walked through the trees in search of firewood, and as he reached a cliff at the forest's edge, he looked out to the horizon through tearful eyes. The flash of red he saw there filled his mind with one thing- The cherry sash that had been all that remained of her after the Fall.  


His love had left him.  


Pyrrha had gone, leaving him alone. The tape was gone now too. His own stupidity, his clumsiness had cost him his love.  
Again.  


He had nothing left. No one, anymore. Not even a remnant of the girl who had saved his life, who he loved, who loved him. She was gone, and it was his fault.  
He couldn’t be without her.  
Sadness wracked him as he steadied himself, front foot forward.  
He would be with his love soon enough.  
With one last cry, Jaune Arc stepped off the edge, into the vermillion sunset. 

His fall, for him, lasted forever.

And when Ruby Rose found his body, broken and bloodied, his eyes were closed, and he was smiling.

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this all on one sad morning while crying over my keyboard, so don't judge it too hard lol


End file.
